The skinny

Music is important to me. I don't play an instrument, but I like to listen.

At varsity in Dunedin the gigs kept me warm.

Over the years I built up my record collection, boxes and boxes of LP's, EP's and 7 inch singles, only to lose everything in a burglary.

Travel and family commitments intervened. Time passed. CD's replaced records, and records gave way to MP3's.

I miss records.

A disk crash deleted the MP3 collection, and I started again from scratch.

Starting again was difficult. I found myself buying the same music. Boring. I read music magazines to find out what I might like, but I didn't learn much. The radio wasn't much better. I visited record stores but just got lost, rows of bands I had never heard of.

I resolved to spend 12 months listening to as much music as I could; where possible avoiding bands that I knew, trying to find out what was out there, and what I liked.

By 2007 there was no shortage of music to listen to. Music blogs share the tastes of 1000's of music lovers. I joined Emusic.

To keep track I burn MixCd's, 21st Century mixtapes. The CD's catalogue my exploring. I give them to friends. Sometimes they email me back with comments and suggest other bands to listen to.

Nine years on (good grief) here is a website to share my love of music.

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Been down south again. I played this mix for my sister as we drove around rounding up family members for a birthday party. When The Flying Burrito Brothers came on I told her the name of the band. That’s the name of a restaurant isn’t it she said? She was right, we drove by the restaurant a few minutes later.

Many of these tunes are live recordings. I was impressed that Grooveshark had all the tracks I wanted in the versions I wanted, particularly the demo version of the VU track.

Another road trip to Hamilton. I had new music from A.A. Bondy, Sennen, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, La Sera, Beach House and others to listen to. I caught on to a 2/4 chugging vibe among some of the tracks, and hence this chug, chug mix.

I had coffee by the banks of the mighty Waikato, and then holed up in a hotel all day mediating….

Heading down country I listened to Sennen and their new album, Lost Harmony. They are English (Norwich) and make serious guitar driven music; a touch shoegaze, a touch folk with some Can influences. I enjoyed most of the tracks. Wonderful.

Heading back I listened to A.A. Bondy and his latest album – Believers. I enjoyed his first album, American Hearts, and I was looking forward to this 2011 release. It’s an excellent album with the guitar and voice up front, clean sounding but not over produced. Kinda alt-country late night’ish with an indie sensibility and krautrocky tendencies. I don’t often like a whole album, but here I enjoyed every track. Perfect for my trip home in the dark.

Aufheben from the Brian Jonestown Massacre was an unexpected treat. I haven’t listened to a whole album from this band before. I enjoyed the documentary, DIG!, covering their rivalry with The Dandy Warhols where they were portrayed as total wasters – particularly main man Anton Newcombe. I approached the album with no expectations and enjoyed every track. Whimsical psychedelia.